Saturday, June 30, 2012

(UPDATE) TEPCO managed to bypass the UPS and restarted the cooling system at 3:07PM on July 1. At the time of the restart, the temperature of the water inside the Spent Fuel Pool was 42.9 degrees Celsius. TEPCO plans to replace the faulty UPS this week. (From the tweets of another independent journalist who receives TEPCO email.)

=======================================

Independent journalists who cover TEPCO's press conference posted TEPCO's email updating them about the problem in the Reactor 4 SFP cooling system that automatically shut down on June 30, as follows (I got the text from Yasumi Iwakami's tweets):

Today's investigation of the automatic shutdown of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 4 Spent Fuel Pool cooling system, as of 7:40PM on June 30, 2012:

We conducted the investigation at the site, and there seemed to be a problem with the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). We are considering bypassing the UPS, and the work to restore the system will start tomorrow as soon as we are ready. The temperature of the pool as of 6PM [on June 30] was 36.6 degrees Celsius. We estimate that it will take about 60 hours for the water temperature of the Spent Fuel Pool to reach the upper limit of the safety regulations at 65 degrees Celsius.

That gives TEPCO until 6AM on July 3 to fix the problem. TEPCO already said they didn't find any leak.

TEPCO investigated the site, and said that the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) may have broken. The UPS is connected to the main power supply and the cooling system, and provides electricity in an emergency.

In order to cool the fuel stored in the Spent Fuel Pool, the cooling system draws water from the pool, cools the water and circulates it back into the pool. There are two lines, and TEPCO tried to resume the cooling operation by starting the backup line. However, since both lines use the same UPS, TEPCO couldn't restart the system. TEPCO is planning to bypass the UPS and restart the system.

There are rumors (like the one from Professor Takeda) that the Reactor 4 SFP is mechanically damaged because of shoddy construction. I have no idea what the basis is for Professor Takeda's assertion that shoddy construction work damaged the pipe of the cooling system. They seem as baseless as the rumors that everything is dandy or that the building is listing like the Tower of Pisa.

The worker who tweets from Fukushima I Nuke Plant tweeted this about the problem:

Hello. I was surprised by DM [twitter's direct message] from one of my followers saying "Right now, the rumor of Reactor 4..." At least mechanical engineers like me haven't been called in. It looks like a problem with the control system. Repair will probably be tomorrow, as they need to arrange for the repair parts. For the time being, looking at the temperature trend, I don't think there is anything to worry.

If it is really a serious situation, we would receive an emergency call. Then the crane will be used [Putzmeister concrete crane that pours water directly into the Spent Fuel Pool]. If that should happen, I will tweet right away. But I'm enjoying my day off, eating sweets. See ya.

19
comments:

Anonymous
said...

The data sets are indicating that prior to July 10th {ed note: error rate is 3 days plus orminus} the tone relative to the [ongoing Fukushima disaster] will change to one of [conflict] and [trouble] just as the [disaster] word shifts within the [public consciousness] over to [catastrophe], or [cataclysm].

They've already bypassed the broken UPS and circulation has been restarted already as of 2:35 or something. There are no rumors of explosion. Reminds me of the hysteria a few months ago when everybody was freaking out about helicopters in Tokyo.

There is a real story about cesium in the urine of 141 kids in Fukushima. Primavera you might want to give that one a bit of attention.

Relieved that the "listing" #4 was being structurally reinforced from below (but not reported until later),while the "rumor and hysteria" appeared as we common folk tried to understand the problems with limited information.

"Freaking out" ? An enormous level of concern and anger for the children stranded in contaminated areas wearing dosimeters and a complete disregard from any government or industry official for their welfare.

Is it unreasonable for a population experiencing this level of continuing disaster to want to know why there is a sudden appearance of helicopters overhead?Not so much

Over reacting to limited information about a disaster of this nature is better than no reaction at all. Stop putting people down for being concerned and afraid. I'm disappointed in you for this tone. Why do you attack the few people who try to inform with the limited information they are getting from Japan like Arnie Gundersen? When he talked about building 4 leaning, the top of it was leaning. That was months ago and at that time the upper part of building 4 was leaning and Tepco has since removed the part that was indeed leaning. Now Arnie is being treated like a bad guy. Oh, how we are manipulated by the fascist pro-nukes.

Oh god, not another Arnie apologist. The top of Unit 4 was not leaning for the simple fact that the top of Unit 4 was blown off in an explosion. I'm starting to think the "Unit 4 is leaning" legend was started by Tepco in order to take attention away from Units 1, 2, and 3 (the ones with actual blobs of melted nuclear fuel).

There are three meltdowns underway, and people are distracted by the mysteriously leaning #4 and by helicopters in Tokyo. Kids in Fukushima are showing up with cesium in their systems, but people are more interested in propping up Arnie Gundersen's claims that Unit 4 is leaning.

Also have had issues obtaining duct tape and band aids in Japan - also a distinct shortage of apprentice electrical & design engineers - but do have an extreme over supply of competent safety engineers - saw a group of them (old ladies and young kids - near the protest site) - GO FIGURE?

About my coverage of Japan Earthquake of March 11

I am Japanese, and I not only read Japanese news sources for information on earthquake and the Fukushima Nuke Plant but also watch press conferences via the Internet when I can and summarize my findings, adding my observations.

About This Site

Well, this was, until March 11, 2011. Now it is taken over by the events in Japan, first earthquake and tsunami but quickly by the nuke reactor accident. It continues to be a one-person (me) blog, and I haven't even managed to update the sidebars after 5 months... Thanks for coming, spread the word.------------------This is an aggregator site of blogs coming out of SKF (double-short financials ETF) message board at Yahoo.

Along with commentary on day's financial news, it also provides links to the sites with financial and economic news, market data, stock technical analysis, and other relevant information that could potentially affect the financial markets and beyond.

Disclaimer: None of the posts or links is meant to be a recommendation, advice or endorsement of any kind. The site is for information and entertainment purposes only.